


Cross-Faction Chaos

by RyterLynx



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft (Comics)
Genre: F/M, Pandaria, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-04-24 19:36:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19180021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyterLynx/pseuds/RyterLynx
Summary: Raised not to judge others on the banner they fly under, the Ravenlight sisters are always open to new friendships and companions. However, dealing with those who are supposed to be their enemies threatens to create cross-faction chaos unlike anything Azeroth has ever seen before...





	1. Chapter One of Salxi's Story - Tired of Silence

Glimmers of stars interrupted the dark night sky high above the lush tree canopy of the Jade Forest in Pandaria. In this area called Forest Heart, a stream burbled lazily through the rolling hills, dotted with waterfalls, and spanned in the deeper sections by elegant arched bridges. A cottage rumored to belong to a jade witch stood tucked in darkness to the north. Near the cottage, jade felines prowled among the trees causing smaller, more harmless animals to keep their distance. It was on the southern bank of the stream, between a waterfall and a bridge, that Salxi Ravenlight, a blood elf warlock, had camped for the night.

The jade witch rumors would keep others away and Salxi had no reason to fear such a minor foe. Absently twirling her fingers through the black tresses of her ponytail, the blood elf woman sat cross-legged on the ground by her campfire reading her personal journal. Such a sitting position would have been challenging in the robes many warlocks wore, but Salxi preferred pants and shirts both for easier movement and to avoid the inescapable draft that came with wearing skirts.

The flickering flames of the fire provided ample light for Salxi to read the personal journal that she'd titled "Sal's Journal of Light." The journal contained images and descriptions of everything important to her. Within the journal, she kept pictures of her family members, her homeland, and anything else that reminded her of the light and good in the world. As a warlock, Salxi existed in a constant battle to control the dark fel magic she wielded and prevent it from overwhelming her. The journal of images, stories, and her personal reflections kept her grounded in the world of light and helped counter the effects of using fel magic.

Standing guard nearby in shadows barely touched by the firelight was Salxi's felguard, Zilikshok. She had only started summoning him a few weeks ago as a change from her voidwalker demon, Thulnuz. Thulnuz was a highly effective fighter and kept enemies away from her so she could focus on ranged attacks, but he didn't have much personality. Not that Zilikshok, or Zilik as she'd started thinking of him, had much personality either. But he looked more humanoid than the hovering, pulsating mass of void magic that was Thulnuz.

Generally speaking, demon minions weren't supposed to display unique personalities or be sociable with their non-demon masters. Nonetheless, Salxi had spent many years of her life with demon minions and she liked to think that all warlock minions had personalities that could be interesting if they ever revealed them. For reasons she couldn't quite understand, she didn't view them as evil, deceptive creatures that would turn on her if given the opportunity. Maybe that was because they never had.

Much to the blood elf's pleasure, Zilik had proven himself to be just as useful as Thulnuz. Salxi liked some of the battle tactics that were unique to felguards, but he seemed to have even less personality than her voidwalker. That was something she hadn't thought possible. He would occasionally say things that she imagined all demons said such as calling her a "lesser being" and telling her she wasn't strong enough to control him. She hoped that was just how demon minions were "programmed" to behave during the process evil used to increase their demonic numbers. Still, she couldn't help but take such words personally at times.

All of the demons that warlocks summoned looked the same from warlock to warlock, although imps varied in color sometimes. But all demon minions had their own names that warlocks learned from the first summoning. That fact often made Salxi wonder if they had unique personalities to go along with those names. She'd never truly seen anything unique about her minions compared to the minions of other warlocks, but there was something more there, she was certain of it.

Realizing that her musings about demon names and personalities had distracted her from reading her book, Salxi blinked her fel green eyes to refocus them on the page before her. She was looking at a page showing a drawing of her older sister, Solunai. Solunai was a paladin and as opposite from Salxi as a sister could get. Solunai, or Sol as her family called her, embodied all that was good and light, while Salxi worked with dark magic and rarely had the noblest of purposes.

Salxi with her jet-black hair, dark clothing, and fel magic, would do whatever it took to win a fight. On the other hand, Sol with her auburn hair always up in a bun and her sword and shield at the ready would never do anything to go against her duty. Although their nicknames of Sol and Sal were similar, Salxi doubted she and her oldest sister would ever see eye-to-eye.

If not for their fun-loving oldest sister, Sriset, Salxi was certain she and Sol would have been at odds far more often than they were growing up. Fortunately, their hunter sister Sri and her tendency to get lost physically, verbally, and mentally had always kept the mood light among the three sisters.

Salxi smiled slightly as she thought about her older sisters and then abruptly closed the book with a sigh. She hadn't seen any of her siblings in quite some time as they were all questing on different continents for different reasons. With her ability to summon and control demons, Salxi never quested alone, but that didn't prevent loneliness.

Although never the most social blood elf, she did enjoy being among other living beings. As long as they weren't always ordering her around as General Nazgrim had been of late. She was extremely relieved to be free of the general for a while. He had assigned her the task of exploring the areas outside of Grookin Outpost where the Horde had allied themselves with the monkey-like hozen natives. If Salxi had her way, she'd never return to that outpost to endure more growled orders from the power-hungry orc general again.

The gunship battle that had occurred when they arrived in Pandaria had been followed by days of fighting, as both Horde and Alliance tried to establish a foothold in the newly discovered land. Salxi had been so busy questing and fighting that she'd barely noticed what the land looked like. She'd had tunnel vision, focusing only on the general's orders as they made an alliance with the hozen. The general had just finally sent her out on the exploration quest as the sun set that day. Now that it was full night, she still hadn't seen much of the land. But that would change when dawn came, Salxi would make sure of that!

With dawn several hours away and sleep not feeling imminent, Salxi looked up from the fire to study Zilik. He stood at the ready as always with his red and gold armor adorning all of his body except his upper chest. She'd never understood why felguards left their chests so exposed since it made a fatal blow easy. Well, "easy" if you could get past the felguard's huge double-bladed axe and deadly attacks.

Just like all felguards, Zilik's skin was dark gray and his face was broad, boney, and square-like. His mouth appeared devoid of lips and his eyes burned red beneath the huge sword-like helm that rose ridiculously high from his head. That sword-like shape was mimicked in the back and shoulder armor that appeared to grow directly out of his spine. Salxi imagined the process to attach such armor was not pleasant. Then again, felguards came from a demonic race called mo'arg, so perhaps they grew spikes from their bodies as they matured.

Removing his armor might be impossible or fatal because some of it was growing from his body or at least magically fused to it. As with all felguards, his overall appearance was meant to be intimidating, scary, and mean-looking. Salxi found his face and odd lipless mouth the most disturbing. A peculiar thing for her to notice because she'd spent a good amount of time with the undead Forsaken to earn their respect and the opportunity to ride their skeletal horse mounts. Considering how Forsaken were more bone than flesh, a little thing like her felguard having no lips shouldn't have bothered her.

Along with wishing Zilik had a more normal facial appearance, she also realized that she wanted to know what he looked like without the armor. Every felguard she'd ever seen with other warlocks or working for evil armies looked exactly the same. She had a feeling that was due to some sort of spell. It was entirely possible that every felguard was identical, but a spell seemed far more likely.

"Do you ever take your armor off?" she asked as she looked at Zilik. His only response was the familiar deep throaty grunt she'd heard during battle many times.

Refusing to be deterred, Salxi stood up and walked over to stand directly in front of the felguard. He towered at least a foot over her, not counting that pointy helm (or part of his actual head). Blood elves were not known for their height, so she was somewhat used to being shorter than all Horde races except goblins. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by him because she knew her warlock powers gave her total control over him. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a black eyebrow at his glowing red gaze. "I asked you a question."

"Can't."

Both of Salxi's black eyebrows shot up in surprise at his response because it was the first new thing he had said to her in, well...ever. "You can't?" He said nothing. "Does it also limit your ability to speak?" Again, no response.

Salxi bit her lip in thought. She concluded that the armor was indeed part of or magically fused to his body and that it was perhaps part of some spell that limited his communication abilities. Finding the idea of being trapped in such heavy armor all the time and not being able to express free thought highly unsuitable, she began to formulate a plan.

Salxi was a master alchemist and had ventured outside of all her teachings in ways her trainers would probably never approve. She'd mixed her own blood in with some potions and enhanced them with spoken spells. She was certain such dabbling would probably intrigue other warlocks and worry other alchemists. What others thought of her magic usage was not her concern.

What harm could it do to use her alchemic abilities to free him from his armor for a short time? As long as he remained bound as her obedient minion, she should be safe. Then maybe he could talk to her and answer her questions. Surely whatever spell she cast she could undo as she'd always done in the past.

Determined to achieve what others might deem impossible, Salxi strode back over to the fire. She began looking through her bags for her potion bottles, herbs, and other alchemy supplies. She found a few of her most potent potions and elixirs and pulled out her alchemy notebook to start jotting down potential potion and herb combinations to achieve the desired result. Knowing a spoken spell would also be required, she started writing out magical words that had proved powerful in the past. Modifying a spell she'd used to reveal the true nature of an object sounded like a good place to start and adding a potion or two onto that should suffice.

Within an hour, Salxi had three new potions bottled and the final draft of a spell she'd written and re-written countless times until she got it right. She was confident that she'd be able to remove his armor without harming him and without compromising her control of him should her actions evoke animosity from him.

Zilik was still standing guard in the night, seemingly oblivious to her actions. Pleased with herself, Salxi stood up holding the three bottles and the written spell. "Come here."

Zilik immediately obeyed by striding up to her until his chest was within inches of her nose. That was a bit too close for Salxi. It was fine when they were questing and she needed protection, but it was unnecessary now. She took a few steps backward. "Stay right there." He stayed where he was.

Taking a deep breath, Salxi began reciting the words of the spell as she uncorked the first vial. She felt the magic begin to stir in the air and the hair on her arms rose in anticipation and excitement. Finishing the appropriate verse of the spell, Salxi tossed the first bottle at Zilik's feet where it smashed into pieces releasing the potion within. Zilik didn't move a muscle. She did the same procedure with the next two verses and bottles. The potions and words combined to create a bluish fog rising up from Zilik's feet until it was almost impossible to see him. Salxi recited the last verse of the spell and there was a bright flash of light that forced her to close her eyes momentarily.

When Salxi opened her eyes, she gaped in shock at the changed being before her. The spell paper slipped from her stunned hands and into the fire where it quickly burned into nothingness. Where the felguard had stood only moments ago now stood a very different looking being. He resembled a male night elf but with slightly shorter ears and a broader overall build similar to his felguard form. His skin was still gray, but a lighter gray than the felguard skin. His eyes no longer burned red, instead, they glowed with a softer, burgundy light. He now had a more normal, masculine face that was less square. Best of all, he had lips instead of a flat mouth.

The double-sided axe and felguard armor lay in a scattered pile at his feet and he now wore a black shirt, black pants, and black boots. Without that armor, Zilik looked nothing like any other felguard. A fact emphasized by the long indigo hair that fell in ombre layers from his shoulders down his back.

After taking in his entire appearance, Salxi concluded that he was in truth, pleasing to look at. He also bared little resemblance to any of the other mo'arg people she'd ever encountered. Perhaps not all felguards were mo'arg after all.

Zilik appeared to be in shock himself as he ran his hands along his arms and chest and then up to his ears. He followed the shape of the ears all the way up to their points and his eyes grew wider. He pressed a hand to his hair in what appeared to be confusion and then stared down at his changed attire and the armor at his feet. "How did you do that?" he asked and then looked further stunned that he'd been able to ask a question.

Salxi managed to blink finally, but it took a few moments for her to find her voice. She took it as a good sign that he hadn't immediately tried to attack her. In fact, he seemed downright friendly. "Potions and a spell," she explained. "I wasn't really sure it would work, but it did and...by the Sunwell what have I done?!" She backed up as fear began to creep into her heart. She'd broken him free of his armor, but maybe she'd accidentally freed him of the felguard binding as well.

Obviously noticing her discomfort, Zilik smiled. Seeing the smile made Salxi stop and stare because she'd never seen him smile in felguard form. "I am still yours to command, Lady Warlock." Salxi exhaled in relief. "Although this appearance is new to me."

Salxi's brief relief vanished. "What do you mean? Were you born with that armor on? Or were you created with it on?" Salxi began to realize just how little she apparently knew about demons.

Zilik shook his head. "I wasn't born wearing armor. And yes, I was born, not created. This was not my appearance prior to having the armor fused with my body. Your magic created this appearance."

"It did?!" Salxi felt as if the entire world around her was spinning much too fast and she stumbled a bit nearly tripping into the fire. Zilik's hand on her arm steadied her and she stared from that gray-toned hand up to his face trying to fathom how she'd managed to create an appearance rather than reveal his true one. "I didn't mean to change you in this way, I'm sorry."

Zilik blinked at her and smiled again. "Intentional or not, it's a good thing you created this form with clothing. Felguards wear very little beneath their armor."

Salxi's mind swirled as she tried to fathom what would've happened if he'd appeared naked. Thankfully, clothing was apparently part of the form she'd created with such detail in her mind of what he might look like beneath the armor. She was also both pleasantly surprised and confused by how friendly Zilik was. No matter what he currently looked like, he was still a demon and demons were rarely called nice. Had she somehow created his personality too? That certainly hadn't been something she'd thought of including in the spell.

"You're wondering why I haven't tried to kill you yet, yes?"

Salxi nodded. "Can you actually read my thoughts or are you just guessing?" she blurted out.

Zilik's smile broadened. "We have been fighting together long enough for me to read you, Master. Plus, you are not the first warlock I've served, and I've become accustomed to humanoid behavior. As for why I haven't killed you, well, in my youth I was just as black-hearted, ruthless, and evil as most demons. But countless years of servitude and watching my masters die violently or fade to dust has...changed me."

"So I didn't accidentally create your personality too then?"

He shook his head. "No. You created only this appearance. I am still the same felguard who existed within that armor for eons."

Salxi exhaled in relief. "That's good at least. Again, I'm sorry for changing you."

"I find this all very interesting and there's no need to apologize, Master."

After what he'd just explained about why he was how he was, Salxi suddenly found that she didn't like being called master by him any longer, although the title had never really bothered her before. Warlocks had demon minions who called them master and she'd never questioned that. Despite her curiosity, she hadn't known with absolute certainty that demon servants were living, feeling beings. But now that she'd freed Zilik of his armor, saw him in a different form (even one she'd accidentally created), and heard him speak, she knew the truth. "You don't need to call me master," she insisted.

Zilik's dark blue eyebrows shot up in surprise. "But that's what you are, you are my master."

"I just turned you into something you've never been by tampering with magic in ways I probably shouldn't have. I'm not a master of anything." Unable to face him and the mistake she'd made, Salxi crossed her arms over her chest and turned to stare into the fire.

There was silence for many moments and Salxi found herself actually enjoying it for the first time in a long while. So many questions were rattling through her mind as she reconsidered the spells and potions she'd used. The main spell had been to reveal the true nature of something, not create something entirely new. But then she'd combined in a variety of alteration potions and magic, so it made some sense that things had gone awry. Trying to come to terms with the fact that his appearance was what she'd wanted him to look like was proving challenging for her because it felt far too self-serving, even for a warlock.

"If I may ask, why do I resemble a night elf? You are a blood elf; I would think your idea of me without armor would be of your race."

Trying not to appear disconcerted that Zilik had again asked a question she was thinking about, Salxi turned to him. Looking him over thoroughly from head to toe as he stood easily two heads taller than her, she tried to find a proper answer that would satisfy both of them. "Well, felguards are large and imposing and while blood elf males can be strong warriors, they're diminutive in stature compared to night elves. Your broader build than a night elf reflects your felguard build and the ears..." She paused to visually examine his ears and tilted her head to the side in thought. "I guess maybe I just thought night elf ears were too long. I don't really know." She exhaled heavily in defeat.

Zilik nodded thoughtfully and seemed content with her response. "Those are all reasonable conclusions, Ma- Lady Warlock."

Deciding "Lady Warlock" was preferable to "Master" and probably the best she was going to get from him at this point, Salxi managed to smile. "Glad you see it that way."

He paused to scratch at his head a bit and the indigo hair there. "It has been many years since I've had hair and it was never this color or length, but I think I can become accustomed to it."

"You can always cut it off if you like."

"And ruin what you've created? I don't think so."

Finding Zilik's warm and amused smile when he looked at her unnerving, she decided to change the subject. "Why don't you sit by the fire for a while?"

Zilik looked at the patch of grass she was motioning toward and frowned. "I'm supposed to protect you. I must stand watch."

Salxi rolled her fel green eyes. "I'm certain we're quite safe for the night. The only beings I sense are crickets and other harmless animals."

Zilik stared at her. "You can sense creatures? I thought that was a hunter's gift."

Salxi shrugged. "I thought so too, but my oldest sister Sriset taught me how to do it when I was very young. I somehow kept the ability even after becoming a warlock."

"Is she in that book?" Zilik pointed to the thick journal sitting by Salxi's bags.

Salxi looked from Zilik to the book and back again. "You noticed me reading that?"

"You do so every night. Why?"

If Salxi had known freeing Zilik of the armor would have started his endless questions, she wasn't sure she would have done it. Having company was one thing, being poked and pestered about her personal behavior was quite another. Deciding it was far too late to undo what she'd done, Salxi answered him. "It's a journal of everything that's important to me, everything that's good in my life."

Zilik appeared confused, which Salxi found herself liking. "Why do you read it?"

Salxi frowned. "I remind myself of the light in life, so I don't succumb to the dark magic I wield every day." She felt slightly annoyed that the answer wasn't obvious.

"But you're a warlock."

"So?"

"I've served countless warlocks and they all reveled in the darkness, grew stronger from it, and eventually succumbed to it. Why do you fight against it? Why become a warlock if you don't enjoy dark magic?"

Salxi's mouth moved for many moments but no words would come out. It wasn't that she'd never been asked such questions before, it was that she was being asked them by a demon, or former demon or...she didn't even know what to call him anymore! She thought demons would understand the thirst for power, the desire to achieve greater feats than a mere mortal body ever could, but apparently Zilik didn't.

Starting to feel irritated by his questions, Salxi found her voice. "I was tired of being weak, but I didn't have the gifts my sisters did. I couldn't wield the Light as Sol does, I couldn't commune with animals as Sri does, and while Lin's mage powers are strong, she doesn't wield them properly because she's ... well, she's weak!" She crossed her arms over her chest and resisted the urge to stomp her foot. She hadn't included her younger sister Lindrastra in the Journal of Light because the girl was an all-knowing snot with an ego bigger than her water elemental companion.

"And yet you don't want to wield the full strength of your warlock powers by giving into the darkness?"

"No, I don't! Now stop asking me questions!" This time, she did stomp her foot. To her surprise, Zilik turned from her and strode back to his usual night watchman position. She would have thought he'd done it at her command except she hadn't asked him to guard her, just to stop asking questions. His actions suggested that he did not appreciate her words or her tone. Salxi didn't really blame him either because she was the one who had freed him from the armor in the hopes of having someone to talk to. She supposed she'd forgotten what true conversations were.

Taking a deep breath and then releasing it slowly, Salxi regained her calm and walked over to stand in front of Zilik again. "I didn't ask you to stand watch."

Zilik continued to stare into the darkness. "I thought you released me from my armor so we could talk, but that's apparently not true so I will stand guard." His tone was cold but not as menacing as his felguard voice.

That was the reason she'd released him and his cold tone told Salxi that he was upset. He had every right to be. He'd finally been given the freedom to speak his mind and the person who gave him that freedom had told him to stop talking. Salxi had to set things right. "Yes, that's why I released you, but I didn't expect so many questions. I thought a demon would understand why I wanted to wield warlock magic."

Zilik lowered his gaze to her and studied her carefully with his burgundy colored eyes. "Warlocks crave power, feed off it, hunger for it. You resist it and fight against the darkness of that magic. You'll never reach your full power as a warlock by doing that."

Zilik's words were spoken in a conversational tone, but what he said made Salxi believe that he thought her weak and doubted her abilities. She was sorely tempted to slap his formerly demonic face right off his head. "You have no right to say that! You don't know anything about me. I'm not like other warlocks."

Zilik's expression softened from that of a stoic guard to one that almost appeared compassionate. "No, you're not." He held up his hand when she opened her mouth. "That's not a bad thing."

"Oh." Salxi wished she'd been able to think of some more intelligent response than that but talking to Zilik was proving exhausting. Not quite sure what to say next, she found her gaze drawn to the pile of armor on the ground and the gleaming double-bladed axe of the felguard. She frowned in thought and gave the end of her black ponytail a tug. "That won't do." Zilik followed her gaze and his face darkened. "If someone sees a warlock questing around with something that's not a recognizable minion, we could both be in danger."

"It isn't the type of armor I can put back on," Zilik explained walking over to the red and gold pieces of plate armor. He crouched down by them causing some of his long indigo hair to fall forward over his shoulders.

Salxi lost her words for a moment as his crouching position stretched the fabric of his pants tighter across his thighs accenting their muscles. She shook off her daydreams quickly to respond to him. "Well no, not in your current form, but perhaps I can make a potion to restore your felguard appearance as needed."

"As needed?" He appeared confused as he stood.

Salxi raised a single black eyebrow at him. "Unless you want to resume the constant felguard appearance?" He shook his head, which filled her with both relief and consternation. "As you're still, as you say, under my command, the spells I use that tie into you should still work. Even so, I really think it's best if you have that armor, and your felguard appearance, on for protection and to avoid suspicion." Zilik nodded slowly in agreement.

Salxi walked back over to her bags and started searching through her potions and herbs for the proper ingredients for what she had in mind. Zilik maintained his watch-guard post. That was fine with her since she was tampering with magic that probably no one in the magical community would approve of.

In order for the potion to work and maintain the warlock/minion bond between them both in and out of his armor, Salxi felt they needed to incorporate a bit of their own blood into the final concoction and then drink it. Warlocks were known for doing all sorts of dark magic involving blood, but Salxi felt that her reasons for using blood in this instance were benevolent, not harmful.

Zilik submitted to having his finger poked with her dagger and Salxi poked her own finger so they could drip their blood into the potion bottle. The bottle already contained ground herbs, battle elixirs, a healing potion, mana potion, and various other ingredients she'd thrown in for good measure. For reasons she could never quite explain, she had a feeling that the potions she made worked because of the inherent magic she possessed and not just because of her alchemy training. She doubted that anyone else who recreated her potions would have the same success she did and that gave her a great feeling of satisfaction. There were countless warlocks in the world, but there was only one Salxi.

Once the potion was complete and a proper spell written, Salxi walked from the fire back over to where Zilik stood guard. The written spell had been almost as tricky as the spell to remove his armor because she had a lot of demon/minion aspects she needed to keep bound whether he had his armor on or not. All she could do was hope that she had covered all of the necessary elements and that the potion would bind them as she intended without causing further unwanted alterations. "This will be binding for as long as we both live." She held up the small potion bottle for him to see.

As a sign of good faith, she drank the first half of the potion too fast to taste it and then handed him the vial. To her surprise, Zilik drank the rest without hesitation and without her ordering him. She then read the spell she'd written and as she did so, she could feel the magic crackling in the air around and between them. When she spoke the final word, there was a small flash of light, then a continued glow that coalesced into what looked like tiny, sizzling lightning bolts hovering in the space between them. Those bolts abruptly exploded outward, striking them both in the chest and knocking them off their feet.

From her spot on the ground, Salxi raised herself up on her elbows to find that Zilik had been thrown onto his back as well and was in a similar position to her. "I think it worked." She couldn't help but smile at her second amazing achievement of the night.

Zilik frowned slightly as the air still crackled a bit from the fading magic. He stood up and walked over to the pile of armor. As he neared, the armor started to tremble where it lay. The moment he came within inches of it, the armor flew upward and attached itself to his body, restoring his felguard appearance and banishing all visible traces of his night elf-like form. The double-bladed axe flew up into his hand when he opened his palm and he became the formidable felguard who looked like every other felguard Salxi had ever seen. "I'm once again contained in armor." His voice was flat, but his slight slouch suggested dissatisfaction.

"Ah ha," Salxi said as she stood up and walked over to him. "But it's not a permanent thing anymore." She raised her left hand toward him, flicked her fingers outward and the armor immediately fell off, banishing the felguard appearance and restoring the created form she found more visually appealing. "See?" She couldn't help but grin as Zilik stared at the pile of armor in disbelief. "And don't worry, it's not just the hand motion that does it. I have to want the armor off as well. That way I won't inadvertently de-armor you at the wrong time."

Zilik stared at her in what appeared to be amazement. "You really do think of everything, don't you?"

For the first time in a very long time, Salxi blushed. She was so used to doing things without any sort of positive recognition that his observation caught her off guard. "I try," she managed to say. Fighting to banish the flush in her cheeks and find the strength to meet his gaze, Salxi thought quickly for something more to say. "As a warlock, I've learned that I need to account for all sorts of details. If I focus too much on one enemy, then I'm not prepared to handle additional enemies that appear. I try to cover all angles in every situation."

Zilik looked at her thoughtfully. "That must be exhausting."

"And charging headlong into battle with a huge axe isn't? That whirlwind attack you do makes me tired even watching it and you must get dizzy!" Salxi stopped herself as she realized she was rambling a bit. She thought of all sorts of random things during her questing and during battles, but she never spoke them because she hadn't had anyone to speak them to. Having Zilik in this new capacity certainly changed that!

Zilik shrugged at her words. "It's in a felguard's nature to fight like that. We're brutal fighters with a hunger for destruction. That's what makes us ideal minions for warlocks. You can focus on your ranged attacks while I keep the enemy's attention on me."

Salxi nodded. "I do appreciate that you keep the enemy focused on you. Thulnuz was great at that too, but I just felt like..." She trailed off not sure telling Zilik her thoughts was wise. Then again, he seemed to know her thoughts so maybe he already knew what she'd been about to say. She decided to tell him and hope for the best. "I felt like he hated serving me. You never exactly sound happy either when I summon you and you say things like "how dare you summon me?!" But Thul actually asked that I send him back. I don't entirely know where back is, but it was obviously preferable to being with me."

To Salxi's utter shock, Zilik burst out laughing. She stared at him as he laughed deep and heartily because she hadn't thought demons could laugh. Well, she supposed they could laugh maniacally, but Zilik's laugh was light-hearted and distinctly night elfish. "What's so funny?" she demanded as her shock turned into annoyance.

Zilik wiped laugh tears from his eyes. "When I said you weren't like other warlocks, I didn't realize quite how much." Seeing her annoyed expression, he managed to take a few breaths and stop laughing, but his smile remained. "All voidwalkers and felguards say such things. It's part of the rote that's spelled into us. I highly doubt any other warlocks take it as personally as you do. I can tell you for a fact that Thulnuz seems to like serving you and that I've enjoyed it as well."

Ignoring Zilik's pleased smile during those last words, Salxi focused on the other parts of his words that didn't make sense. "Thul liked serving me? How do you know?"

Zilik chuckled a bit. "To minimize summoning time, minions of the same warlock tend to linger in the same area of the Twisting Nether. Whenever Thulnuz returned, especially if it was because he was vanquished defending you, he'd be visibly anxious and impatient. His relief when he felt you summoning him again was visible on what passes for a face on a voidwalker."

Salxi's mouth gaped a bit before she was able to make words come out. "Really?" Zilik nodded. She frowned as she tried to make sense of everything he had said to her.

To realize that her feelings about demons having actual personalities were correct was both gratifying and surprising. If those thoughts had occurred to her, why hadn't they occurred to other warlocks? Well, perhaps they had, but they never spoke of such things for fear of seeming weak or crazy. She decided it was best if she just ignored what Zilik had said about him enjoying serving her. That was something she didn't want to examine right now, especially since she had just freed him from his armor, created an entirely new form for him, and bound them together with blood.

Realizing he was still looking at her, Salxi shook off her thoughts and tried to resume a composed appearance. "I should sleep," she insisted. Suiting actions to words, she strode back over to the campfire and settled on her thick blankets, pulling the lightest one over her body.

Zilik remained where he was and resumed his watch-guard position even without his felguard appearance. She highly doubted she would actually sleep in the few hours that remained before the sun rose but pretending to be asleep was better than dealing with further conversations with Zilik for the moment. Despite how well they seemed to get along, she was still wondering if she'd made a huge mistake de-armoring and transforming the felguard. Hopefully, daylight and the resumption of normal questing would restore a more familiar routine.


	2. Chapter One of Solunai's Story - Too Much Wine

Glimmers of stars interrupted the dark night sky high above the lush tree canopy of the Jade Forest in Pandaria. In this area called Forest Heart, a stream burbled lazily through the rolling hills, dotted with waterfalls, and spanned in the deeper sections by elegant arched bridges. A cottage rumored to belong to a jade witch stood tucked in darkness to the north. Near the cottage, jade felines prowled among the trees causing smaller, more harmless animals to keep their distance. It was on the southern bank of the stream, between a waterfall and a bridge, that Salxi Ravenlight, a blood elf warlock, had camped for the night.

The jade witch rumors would keep others away and Salxi had no reason to fear such a minor foe. Absently twirling her fingers through the black tresses of her ponytail, the blood elf woman sat cross-legged on the ground by her campfire reading her personal journal. Such a sitting position would have been challenging in the robes many warlocks wore, but Salxi preferred pants and shirts both for easier movement and to avoid the inescapable draft that came with wearing skirts.

The flickering flames of the fire provided ample light for Salxi to read the personal journal that she'd titled "Sal's Journal of Light." The journal contained images and descriptions of everything important to her. Within the journal, she kept pictures of her family members, her homeland, and anything else that reminded her of the light and good in the world. As a warlock, Salxi existed in a constant battle to control the dark fel magic she wielded and prevent it from overwhelming her. The journal of images, stories, and her personal reflections kept her grounded in the world of light and helped counter the effects of using fel magic.

Standing guard nearby in shadows barely touched by the firelight was Salxi's felguard, Zilikshok. She had only started summoning him a few weeks ago as a change from her voidwalker demon, Thulnuz. Thulnuz was a highly effective fighter and kept enemies away from her so she could focus on ranged attacks, but he didn't have much personality. Not that Zilikshok, or Zilik as she'd started thinking of him, had much personality either. But he looked more humanoid than the hovering, pulsating mass of void magic that was Thulnuz.

Generally speaking, demon minions weren't supposed to display unique personalities or be sociable with their non-demon masters. Nonetheless, Salxi had spent many years of her life with demon minions and she liked to think that all warlock minions had personalities that could be interesting if they ever revealed them. For reasons she couldn't quite understand, she didn't view them as evil, deceptive creatures that would turn on her if given the opportunity. Maybe that was because they never had.

Much to the blood elf's pleasure, Zilik had proven himself to be just as useful as Thulnuz. Salxi liked some of the battle tactics that were unique to felguards, but he seemed to have even less personality than her voidwalker. That was something she hadn't thought possible. He would occasionally say things that she imagined all demons said such as calling her a "lesser being" and telling her she wasn't strong enough to control him. She hoped that was just how demon minions were "programmed" to behave during the process evil used to increase their demonic numbers. Still, she couldn't help but take such words personally at times.

All of the demons that warlocks summoned looked the same from warlock to warlock, although imps varied in color sometimes. But all demon minions had their own names that warlocks learned from the first summoning. That fact often made Salxi wonder if they had unique personalities to go along with those names. She'd never truly seen anything unique about her minions compared to the minions of other warlocks, but there was something more there, she was certain of it.

Realizing that her musings about demon names and personalities had distracted her from reading her book, Salxi blinked her fel green eyes to refocus them on the page before her. She was looking at a page showing a drawing of her older sister, Solunai. Solunai was a paladin and as opposite from Salxi as a sister could get. Solunai, or Sol as her family called her, embodied all that was good and light, while Salxi worked with dark magic and rarely had the noblest of purposes.

Salxi with her jet-black hair, dark clothing, and fel magic, would do whatever it took to win a fight. On the other hand, Sol with her auburn hair always up in a bun and her sword and shield at the ready would never do anything to go against her duty. Although their nicknames of Sol and Sal were similar, Salxi doubted she and her oldest sister would ever see eye-to-eye.

If not for their fun-loving oldest sister, Sriset, Salxi was certain she and Sol would have been at odds far more often than they were growing up. Fortunately, their hunter sister Sri and her tendency to get lost physically, verbally, and mentally had always kept the mood light among the three sisters.

Salxi smiled slightly as she thought about her older sisters and then abruptly closed the book with a sigh. She hadn't seen any of her siblings in quite some time as they were all questing on different continents for different reasons. With her ability to summon and control demons, Salxi never quested alone, but that didn't prevent loneliness.

Although never the most social blood elf, she did enjoy being among other living beings. As long as they weren't always ordering her around as General Nazgrim had been of late. She was extremely relieved to be free of the general for a while. He had assigned her the task of exploring the areas outside of Grookin Outpost where the Horde had allied themselves with the monkey-like hozen natives. If Salxi had her way, she'd never return to that outpost to endure more growled orders from the power-hungry orc general again.

The gunship battle that had occurred when they arrived in Pandaria had been followed by days of fighting, as both Horde and Alliance tried to establish a foothold in the newly discovered land. Salxi had been so busy questing and fighting that she'd barely noticed what the land looked like. She'd had tunnel vision, focusing only on the general's orders as they made an alliance with the hozen. The general had just finally sent her out on the exploration quest as the sun set that day. Now that it was full night, she still hadn't seen much of the land. But that would change when dawn came, Salxi would make sure of that!

With dawn several hours away and sleep not feeling imminent, Salxi looked up from the fire to study Zilik. He stood at the ready as always with his red and gold armor adorning all of his body except his upper chest. She'd never understood why felguards left their chests so exposed since it made a fatal blow easy. Well, "easy" if you could get past the felguard's huge double-bladed axe and deadly attacks.

Just like all felguards, Zilik's skin was dark gray and his face was broad, boney, and square-like. His mouth appeared devoid of lips and his eyes burned red beneath the huge sword-like helm that rose ridiculously high from his head. That sword-like shape was mimicked in the back and shoulder armor that appeared to grow directly out of his spine. Salxi imagined the process to attach such armor was not pleasant. Then again, felguards came from a demonic race called mo'arg, so perhaps they grew spikes from their bodies as they matured.

Removing his armor might be impossible or fatal because some of it was growing from his body or at least magically fused to it. As with all felguards, his overall appearance was meant to be intimidating, scary, and mean-looking. Salxi found his face and odd lipless mouth the most disturbing. A peculiar thing for her to notice because she'd spent a good amount of time with the undead Forsaken to earn their respect and the opportunity to ride their skeletal horse mounts. Considering how Forsaken were more bone than flesh, a little thing like her felguard having no lips shouldn't have bothered her.

Along with wishing Zilik had a more normal facial appearance, she also realized that she wanted to know what he looked like without the armor. Every felguard she'd ever seen with other warlocks or working for evil armies looked exactly the same. She had a feeling that was due to some sort of spell. It was entirely possible that every felguard was identical, but a spell seemed far more likely.

"Do you ever take your armor off?" she asked as she looked at Zilik. His only response was the familiar deep throaty grunt she'd heard during battle many times.

Refusing to be deterred, Salxi stood up and walked over to stand directly in front of the felguard. He towered at least a foot over her, not counting that pointy helm (or part of his actual head). Blood elves were not known for their height, so she was somewhat used to being shorter than all Horde races except goblins. She wasn't the least bit intimidated by him because she knew her warlock powers gave her total control over him. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a black eyebrow at his glowing red gaze. "I asked you a question."

"Can't."

Both of Salxi's black eyebrows shot up in surprise at his response because it was the first new thing he had said to her in, well...ever. "You can't?" He said nothing. "Does it also limit your ability to speak?" Again, no response.

Salxi bit her lip in thought. She concluded that the armor was indeed part of or magically fused to his body and that it was perhaps part of some spell that limited his communication abilities. Finding the idea of being trapped in such heavy armor all the time and not being able to express free thought highly unsuitable, she began to formulate a plan.

Salxi was a master alchemist and had ventured outside of all her teachings in ways her trainers would probably never approve. She'd mixed her own blood in with some potions and enhanced them with spoken spells. She was certain such dabbling would probably intrigue other warlocks and worry other alchemists. What others thought of her magic usage was not her concern.

What harm could it do to use her alchemic abilities to free him from his armor for a short time? As long as he remained bound as her obedient minion, she should be safe. Then maybe he could talk to her and answer her questions. Surely whatever spell she cast she could undo as she'd always done in the past.

Determined to achieve what others might deem impossible, Salxi strode back over to the fire. She began looking through her bags for her potion bottles, herbs, and other alchemy supplies. She found a few of her most potent potions and elixirs and pulled out her alchemy notebook to start jotting down potential potion and herb combinations to achieve the desired result. Knowing a spoken spell would also be required, she started writing out magical words that had proved powerful in the past. Modifying a spell she'd used to reveal the true nature of an object sounded like a good place to start and adding a potion or two onto that should suffice.

Within an hour, Salxi had three new potions bottled and the final draft of a spell she'd written and re-written countless times until she got it right. She was confident that she'd be able to remove his armor without harming him and without compromising her control of him should her actions evoke animosity from him.

Zilik was still standing guard in the night, seemingly oblivious to her actions. Pleased with herself, Salxi stood up holding the three bottles and the written spell. "Come here."

Zilik immediately obeyed by striding up to her until his chest was within inches of her nose. That was a bit too close for Salxi. It was fine when they were questing and she needed protection, but it was unnecessary now. She took a few steps backward. "Stay right there." He stayed where he was.

Taking a deep breath, Salxi began reciting the words of the spell as she uncorked the first vial. She felt the magic begin to stir in the air and the hair on her arms rose in anticipation and excitement. Finishing the appropriate verse of the spell, Salxi tossed the first bottle at Zilik's feet where it smashed into pieces releasing the potion within. Zilik didn't move a muscle. She did the same procedure with the next two verses and bottles. The potions and words combined to create a bluish fog rising up from Zilik's feet until it was almost impossible to see him. Salxi recited the last verse of the spell and there was a bright flash of light that forced her to close her eyes momentarily.

When Salxi opened her eyes, she gaped in shock at the changed being before her. The spell paper slipped from her stunned hands and into the fire where it quickly burned into nothingness. Where the felguard had stood only moments ago now stood a very different looking being. He resembled a male night elf but with slightly shorter ears and a broader overall build similar to his felguard form. His skin was still gray, but a lighter gray than the felguard skin. His eyes no longer burned red, instead, they glowed with a softer, burgundy light. He now had a more normal, masculine face that was less square. Best of all, he had lips instead of a flat mouth.

The double-sided axe and felguard armor lay in a scattered pile at his feet and he now wore a black shirt, black pants, and black boots. Without that armor, Zilik looked nothing like any other felguard. A fact emphasized by the long indigo hair that fell in ombre layers from his shoulders down his back.

After taking in his entire appearance, Salxi concluded that he was in truth, pleasing to look at. He also bared little resemblance to any of the other mo'arg people she'd ever encountered. Perhaps not all felguards were mo'arg after all.

Zilik appeared to be in shock himself as he ran his hands along his arms and chest and then up to his ears. He followed the shape of the ears all the way up to their points and his eyes grew wider. He pressed a hand to his hair in what appeared to be confusion and then stared down at his changed attire and the armor at his feet. "How did you do that?" he asked and then looked further stunned that he'd been able to ask a question.

Salxi managed to blink finally, but it took a few moments for her to find her voice. She took it as a good sign that he hadn't immediately tried to attack her. In fact, he seemed downright friendly. "Potions and a spell," she explained. "I wasn't really sure it would work, but it did and...by the Sunwell what have I done?!" She backed up as fear began to creep into her heart. She'd broken him free of his armor, but maybe she'd accidentally freed him of the felguard binding as well.

Obviously noticing her discomfort, Zilik smiled. Seeing the smile made Salxi stop and stare because she'd never seen him smile in felguard form. "I am still yours to command, Lady Warlock." Salxi exhaled in relief. "Although this appearance is new to me."

Salxi's brief relief vanished. "What do you mean? Were you born with that armor on? Or were you created with it on?" Salxi began to realize just how little she apparently knew about demons.

Zilik shook his head. "I wasn't born wearing armor. And yes, I was born, not created. This was not my appearance prior to having the armor fused with my body. Your magic created this appearance."

"It did?!" Salxi felt as if the entire world around her was spinning much too fast and she stumbled a bit nearly tripping into the fire. Zilik's hand on her arm steadied her and she stared from that gray-toned hand up to his face trying to fathom how she'd managed to create an appearance rather than reveal his true one. "I didn't mean to change you in this way, I'm sorry."

Zilik blinked at her and smiled again. "Intentional or not, it's a good thing you created this form with clothing. Felguards wear very little beneath their armor."

Salxi's mind swirled as she tried to fathom what would've happened if he'd appeared naked. Thankfully, clothing was apparently part of the form she'd created with such detail in her mind of what he might look like beneath the armor. She was also both pleasantly surprised and confused by how friendly Zilik was. No matter what he currently looked like, he was still a demon and demons were rarely called nice. Had she somehow created his personality too? That certainly hadn't been something she'd thought of including in the spell.

"You're wondering why I haven't tried to kill you yet, yes?"

Salxi nodded. "Can you actually read my thoughts or are you just guessing?" she blurted out.

Zilik's smile broadened. "We have been fighting together long enough for me to read you, Master. Plus, you are not the first warlock I've served, and I've become accustomed to humanoid behavior. As for why I haven't killed you, well, in my youth I was just as black-hearted, ruthless, and evil as most demons. But countless years of servitude and watching my masters die violently or fade to dust has...changed me."

"So I didn't accidentally create your personality too then?"

He shook his head. "No. You created only this appearance. I am still the same felguard who existed within that armor for eons."

Salxi exhaled in relief. "That's good at least. Again, I'm sorry for changing you."

"I find this all very interesting and there's no need to apologize, Master."

After what he'd just explained about why he was how he was, Salxi suddenly found that she didn't like being called master by him any longer, although the title had never really bothered her before. Warlocks had demon minions who called them master and she'd never questioned that. Despite her curiosity, she hadn't known with absolute certainty that demon servants were living, feeling beings. But now that she'd freed Zilik of his armor, saw him in a different form (even one she'd accidentally created), and heard him speak, she knew the truth. "You don't need to call me master," she insisted.

Zilik's dark blue eyebrows shot up in surprise. "But that's what you are, you are my master."

"I just turned you into something you've never been by tampering with magic in ways I probably shouldn't have. I'm not a master of anything." Unable to face him and the mistake she'd made, Salxi crossed her arms over her chest and turned to stare into the fire.

There was silence for many moments and Salxi found herself actually enjoying it for the first time in a long while. So many questions were rattling through her mind as she reconsidered the spells and potions she'd used. The main spell had been to reveal the true nature of something, not create something entirely new. But then she'd combined in a variety of alteration potions and magic, so it made some sense that things had gone awry. Trying to come to terms with the fact that his appearance was what she'd wanted him to look like was proving challenging for her because it felt far too self-serving, even for a warlock.

"If I may ask, why do I resemble a night elf? You are a blood elf; I would think your idea of me without armor would be of your race."

Trying not to appear disconcerted that Zilik had again asked a question she was thinking about, Salxi turned to him. Looking him over thoroughly from head to toe as he stood easily two heads taller than her, she tried to find a proper answer that would satisfy both of them. "Well, felguards are large and imposing and while blood elf males can be strong warriors, they're diminutive in stature compared to night elves. Your broader build than a night elf reflects your felguard build and the ears..." She paused to visually examine his ears and tilted her head to the side in thought. "I guess maybe I just thought night elf ears were too long. I don't really know." She exhaled heavily in defeat.

Zilik nodded thoughtfully and seemed content with her response. "Those are all reasonable conclusions, Ma- Lady Warlock."

Deciding "Lady Warlock" was preferable to "Master" and probably the best she was going to get from him at this point, Salxi managed to smile. "Glad you see it that way."

He paused to scratch at his head a bit and the indigo hair there. "It has been many years since I've had hair and it was never this color or length, but I think I can become accustomed to it."

"You can always cut it off if you like."

"And ruin what you've created? I don't think so."

Finding Zilik's warm and amused smile when he looked at her unnerving, she decided to change the subject. "Why don't you sit by the fire for a while?"

Zilik looked at the patch of grass she was motioning toward and frowned. "I'm supposed to protect you. I must stand watch."

Salxi rolled her fel green eyes. "I'm certain we're quite safe for the night. The only beings I sense are crickets and other harmless animals."

Zilik stared at her. "You can sense creatures? I thought that was a hunter's gift."

Salxi shrugged. "I thought so too, but my oldest sister Sriset taught me how to do it when I was very young. I somehow kept the ability even after becoming a warlock."

"Is she in that book?" Zilik pointed to the thick journal sitting by Salxi's bags.

Salxi looked from Zilik to the book and back again. "You noticed me reading that?"

"You do so every night. Why?"

If Salxi had known freeing Zilik of the armor would have started his endless questions, she wasn't sure she would have done it. Having company was one thing, being poked and pestered about her personal behavior was quite another. Deciding it was far too late to undo what she'd done, Salxi answered him. "It's a journal of everything that's important to me, everything that's good in my life."

Zilik appeared confused, which Salxi found herself liking. "Why do you read it?"

Salxi frowned. "I remind myself of the light in life, so I don't succumb to the dark magic I wield every day." She felt slightly annoyed that the answer wasn't obvious.

"But you're a warlock."

"So?"

"I've served countless warlocks and they all reveled in the darkness, grew stronger from it, and eventually succumbed to it. Why do you fight against it? Why become a warlock if you don't enjoy dark magic?"

Salxi's mouth moved for many moments but no words would come out. It wasn't that she'd never been asked such questions before, it was that she was being asked them by a demon, or former demon or...she didn't even know what to call him anymore! She thought demons would understand the thirst for power, the desire to achieve greater feats than a mere mortal body ever could, but apparently Zilik didn't.

Starting to feel irritated by his questions, Salxi found her voice. "I was tired of being weak, but I didn't have the gifts my sisters did. I couldn't wield the Light as Sol does, I couldn't commune with animals as Sri does, and while Lin's mage powers are strong, she doesn't wield them properly because she's ... well, she's weak!" She crossed her arms over her chest and resisted the urge to stomp her foot. She hadn't included her younger sister Lindrastra in the Journal of Light because the girl was an all-knowing snot with an ego bigger than her water elemental companion.

"And yet you don't want to wield the full strength of your warlock powers by giving into the darkness?"

"No, I don't! Now stop asking me questions!" This time, she did stomp her foot. To her surprise, Zilik turned from her and strode back to his usual night watchman position. She would have thought he'd done it at her command except she hadn't asked him to guard her, just to stop asking questions. His actions suggested that he did not appreciate her words or her tone. Salxi didn't really blame him either because she was the one who had freed him from the armor in the hopes of having someone to talk to. She supposed she'd forgotten what true conversations were.

Taking a deep breath and then releasing it slowly, Salxi regained her calm and walked over to stand in front of Zilik again. "I didn't ask you to stand watch."

Zilik continued to stare into the darkness. "I thought you released me from my armor so we could talk, but that's apparently not true so I will stand guard." His tone was cold but not as menacing as his felguard voice.

That was the reason she'd released him and his cold tone told Salxi that he was upset. He had every right to be. He'd finally been given the freedom to speak his mind and the person who gave him that freedom had told him to stop talking. Salxi had to set things right. "Yes, that's why I released you, but I didn't expect so many questions. I thought a demon would understand why I wanted to wield warlock magic."

Zilik lowered his gaze to her and studied her carefully with his burgundy colored eyes. "Warlocks crave power, feed off it, hunger for it. You resist it and fight against the darkness of that magic. You'll never reach your full power as a warlock by doing that."

Zilik's words were spoken in a conversational tone, but what he said made Salxi believe that he thought her weak and doubted her abilities. She was sorely tempted to slap his formerly demonic face right off his head. "You have no right to say that! You don't know anything about me. I'm not like other warlocks."

Zilik's expression softened from that of a stoic guard to one that almost appeared compassionate. "No, you're not." He held up his hand when she opened her mouth. "That's not a bad thing."

"Oh." Salxi wished she'd been able to think of some more intelligent response than that but talking to Zilik was proving exhausting. Not quite sure what to say next, she found her gaze drawn to the pile of armor on the ground and the gleaming double-bladed axe of the felguard. She frowned in thought and gave the end of her black ponytail a tug. "That won't do." Zilik followed her gaze and his face darkened. "If someone sees a warlock questing around with something that's not a recognizable minion, we could both be in danger."

"It isn't the type of armor I can put back on," Zilik explained walking over to the red and gold pieces of plate armor. He crouched down by them causing some of his long indigo hair to fall forward over his shoulders.

Salxi lost her words for a moment as his crouching position stretched the fabric of his pants tighter across his thighs accenting their muscles. She shook off her daydreams quickly to respond to him. "Well no, not in your current form, but perhaps I can make a potion to restore your felguard appearance as needed."

"As needed?" He appeared confused as he stood.

Salxi raised a single black eyebrow at him. "Unless you want to resume the constant felguard appearance?" He shook his head, which filled her with both relief and consternation. "As you're still, as you say, under my command, the spells I use that tie into you should still work. Even so, I really think it's best if you have that armor, and your felguard appearance, on for protection and to avoid suspicion." Zilik nodded slowly in agreement.

Salxi walked back over to her bags and started searching through her potions and herbs for the proper ingredients for what she had in mind. Zilik maintained his watch-guard post. That was fine with her since she was tampering with magic that probably no one in the magical community would approve of.

In order for the potion to work and maintain the warlock/minion bond between them both in and out of his armor, Salxi felt they needed to incorporate a bit of their own blood into the final concoction and then drink it. Warlocks were known for doing all sorts of dark magic involving blood, but Salxi felt that her reasons for using blood in this instance were benevolent, not harmful.

Zilik submitted to having his finger poked with her dagger and Salxi poked her own finger so they could drip their blood into the potion bottle. The bottle already contained ground herbs, battle elixirs, a healing potion, mana potion, and various other ingredients she'd thrown in for good measure. For reasons she could never quite explain, she had a feeling that the potions she made worked because of the inherent magic she possessed and not just because of her alchemy training. She doubted that anyone else who recreated her potions would have the same success she did and that gave her a great feeling of satisfaction. There were countless warlocks in the world, but there was only one Salxi.

Once the potion was complete and a proper spell written, Salxi walked from the fire back over to where Zilik stood guard. The written spell had been almost as tricky as the spell to remove his armor because she had a lot of demon/minion aspects she needed to keep bound whether he had his armor on or not. All she could do was hope that she had covered all of the necessary elements and that the potion would bind them as she intended without causing further unwanted alterations. "This will be binding for as long as we both live." She held up the small potion bottle for him to see.

As a sign of good faith, she drank the first half of the potion too fast to taste it and then handed him the vial. To her surprise, Zilik drank the rest without hesitation and without her ordering him. She then read the spell she'd written and as she did so, she could feel the magic crackling in the air around and between them. When she spoke the final word, there was a small flash of light, then a continued glow that coalesced into what looked like tiny, sizzling lightning bolts hovering in the space between them. Those bolts abruptly exploded outward, striking them both in the chest and knocking them off their feet.

From her spot on the ground, Salxi raised herself up on her elbows to find that Zilik had been thrown onto his back as well and was in a similar position to her. "I think it worked." She couldn't help but smile at her second amazing achievement of the night.

Zilik frowned slightly as the air still crackled a bit from the fading magic. He stood up and walked over to the pile of armor. As he neared, the armor started to tremble where it lay. The moment he came within inches of it, the armor flew upward and attached itself to his body, restoring his felguard appearance and banishing all visible traces of his night elf-like form. The double-bladed axe flew up into his hand when he opened his palm and he became the formidable felguard who looked like every other felguard Salxi had ever seen. "I'm once again contained in armor." His voice was flat, but his slight slouch suggested dissatisfaction.

"Ah ha," Salxi said as she stood up and walked over to him. "But it's not a permanent thing anymore." She raised her left hand toward him, flicked her fingers outward and the armor immediately fell off, banishing the felguard appearance and restoring the created form she found more visually appealing. "See?" She couldn't help but grin as Zilik stared at the pile of armor in disbelief. "And don't worry, it's not just the hand motion that does it. I have to want the armor off as well. That way I won't inadvertently de-armor you at the wrong time."

Zilik stared at her in what appeared to be amazement. "You really do think of everything, don't you?"

For the first time in a very long time, Salxi blushed. She was so used to doing things without any sort of positive recognition that his observation caught her off guard. "I try," she managed to say. Fighting to banish the flush in her cheeks and find the strength to meet his gaze, Salxi thought quickly for something more to say. "As a warlock, I've learned that I need to account for all sorts of details. If I focus too much on one enemy, then I'm not prepared to handle additional enemies that appear. I try to cover all angles in every situation."

Zilik looked at her thoughtfully. "That must be exhausting."

"And charging headlong into battle with a huge axe isn't? That whirlwind attack you do makes me tired even watching it and you must get dizzy!" Salxi stopped herself as she realized she was rambling a bit. She thought of all sorts of random things during her questing and during battles, but she never spoke them because she hadn't had anyone to speak them to. Having Zilik in this new capacity certainly changed that!

Zilik shrugged at her words. "It's in a felguard's nature to fight like that. We're brutal fighters with a hunger for destruction. That's what makes us ideal minions for warlocks. You can focus on your ranged attacks while I keep the enemy's attention on me."

Salxi nodded. "I do appreciate that you keep the enemy focused on you. Thulnuz was great at that too, but I just felt like..." She trailed off not sure telling Zilik her thoughts was wise. Then again, he seemed to know her thoughts so maybe he already knew what she'd been about to say. She decided to tell him and hope for the best. "I felt like he hated serving me. You never exactly sound happy either when I summon you and you say things like "how dare you summon me?!" But Thul actually asked that I send him back. I don't entirely know where back is, but it was obviously preferable to being with me."

To Salxi's utter shock, Zilik burst out laughing. She stared at him as he laughed deep and heartily because she hadn't thought demons could laugh. Well, she supposed they could laugh maniacally, but Zilik's laugh was light-hearted and distinctly night elfish. "What's so funny?" she demanded as her shock turned into annoyance.

Zilik wiped laugh tears from his eyes. "When I said you weren't like other warlocks, I didn't realize quite how much." Seeing her annoyed expression, he managed to take a few breaths and stop laughing, but his smile remained. "All voidwalkers and felguards say such things. It's part of the rote that's spelled into us. I highly doubt any other warlocks take it as personally as you do. I can tell you for a fact that Thulnuz seems to like serving you and that I've enjoyed it as well."

Ignoring Zilik's pleased smile during those last words, Salxi focused on the other parts of his words that didn't make sense. "Thul liked serving me? How do you know?"

Zilik chuckled a bit. "To minimize summoning time, minions of the same warlock tend to linger in the same area of the Twisting Nether. Whenever Thulnuz returned, especially if it was because he was vanquished defending you, he'd be visibly anxious and impatient. His relief when he felt you summoning him again was visible on what passes for a face on a voidwalker."

Salxi's mouth gaped a bit before she was able to make words come out. "Really?" Zilik nodded. She frowned as she tried to make sense of everything he had said to her.

To realize that her feelings about demons having actual personalities were correct was both gratifying and surprising. If those thoughts had occurred to her, why hadn't they occurred to other warlocks? Well, perhaps they had, but they never spoke of such things for fear of seeming weak or crazy. She decided it was best if she just ignored what Zilik had said about him enjoying serving her. That was something she didn't want to examine right now, especially since she had just freed him from his armor, created an entirely new form for him, and bound them together with blood.

Realizing he was still looking at her, Salxi shook off her thoughts and tried to resume a composed appearance. "I should sleep," she insisted. Suiting actions to words, she strode back over to the campfire and settled on her thick blankets, pulling the lightest one over her body.

Zilik remained where he was and resumed his watch-guard position even without his felguard appearance. She highly doubted she would actually sleep in the few hours that remained before the sun rose but pretending to be asleep was better than dealing with further conversations with Zilik for the moment. Despite how well they seemed to get along, she was still wondering if she'd made a huge mistake de-armoring and transforming the felguard. Hopefully, daylight and the resumption of normal questing would restore a more familiar routine.


	3. Chapter One of Sriset's Story - An Untamable Beast?

Sriset Ravenlight was unaccustomed to remaining in one place for very long, but she knew she had to stay in Sri La Village long enough to avoid the wrath of her orc friend Zoruga. After months of trudging through Northrend, a disgruntled Zoruga had insisted that they both deserved a break and had suggested to Sriset that they visit Pandaria for some rest and relaxation. When the orc warrior saw the hesitation of her blood elf hunter friend, she had been wise enough to mention the exotic beasts in Pandaria and Sri had finally relented and agreed to come.

Once they arrived in Pandaria and traveled to the faction neutral fishing area of Sri La Village in the Jade Forest, the orc woman had immediately become much more relaxed and noticeably happier. An orc in a good mood was certainly easier than dealing with an unhappy one, and Sriset had learned over the years that it was nearly impossible to win against Zoruga's persistence and coercion.

Unlike her orc friend, Sri rarely had any trouble achieving a state of being relaxed and happy. That didn't mean that she was happy all the time, but she always tried to find the upside of things. She'd grown up knowing exactly what she was meant to be, a hunter. Her kinship with and sense for animals had existed for as long as she could remember. Before she could even walk, her parents would often find her crawling around outside surrounded by a variety of wild animals.

While no one ever questioned her talents with beasts, her abilities as a hunter were often doubted by people who encountered her. She tended to get lost easily, not quite understand given instructions, and wander into danger that her tamed beasts had trouble rescuing her from. Nonetheless, she was a perfect shot with a longbow and crossbow and could wield a polearm with a dexterity that defied her periodic clumsiness.

Like the animals she was so fond of, Sriset was something of a free spirit and would wander wherever the winds took her. She'd fought for many of the same causes as her sisters Solunai and Salxi had, but their paths hadn't crossed much as they grew older. Their different classes of hunter, paladin, and warlock took them in different directions, but they never forgot their bond as sisters growing up.

Sri enjoyed change and trying new things. One way she had shown that in her younger years was by constantly changing her hair color and hairstyle. Although she'd been born with the same dark hair as her mother, she'd lightened it to blond for many years, then tried red, then brown, until finally deciding that her natural black color was just easier. These days she wore her long, dark hair in a braid that almost reached her waist. The style required little effort and suited her unpredictable adventures as a hunter.

In an effort to distract herself from being in the same place for several days, Sri had set out to explore the area around Sri La Village in search of a new type of beast. She hadn't spent much time on Pandaria before this visit because she'd chosen to pursue other challenges. Now that she was on Pandaria and had seen some of this lush region called the Jade Forest, she was curious to see more of this world filled with the natives called Pandaren.

As a hunter who had tamed several beasts and captured numerous companion pets, Sri found the bear-like Pandaren people ridiculously adorable. She knew the Pandaren people would not appreciate her calling them adorable or cute and fluffy, but she allowed herself to think it.

As Sri ascended the numerous steps up through the cliffs behind Sri La Village, she wondered if it would've been a better idea using her windrider mount. Alas, she had let the flying beast free to the skies when she arrived, and she doubted it would return to her anytime soon. Her mounts grew very tired of her constantly getting lost, nearly running them off cliffs, or dashing through highly dangerous areas. For the sake of her windrider mount, she would use her legs to conquer the steps and hope the beasts roaming the nearby wilds were worth the climb.

Finally arriving at the top of the steps, Sri's leg muscles were burning, she felt slightly winded, and her pants and shirt were clinging to her slightly sweaty body. She didn't quite understand why the round, fluffy Pandaren people had steps everywhere since it seemed like their physique was better designed for rolling places rather than climbing. She knew they wouldn't like that observation either, so she tucked that away in her rather large mental shelf she referred to as, "don't say aloud, you dolt."

Regaining her stamina and her focus, Sriset took in her surroundings and was awestruck by the beauty of this region at the top of the cliffs. Although the sky was quickly darkening with approaching rainstorms, the lushly leafed trees, thick grass, and rocky outcroppings rising toward the clouds were unlike anything she had seen anywhere else on Azeroth. As she stood on the rough stone path staring around with wide amber eyes, a cool breeze brushed against her body and stirred the leaves of the trees and plants around her. She now fully understood why Zoruga had insisted they come here to escape Scourge-filled Northrend.

Trying once again to return to her quest to find a new beast to tame-Sri was often easily distracted-the blood elf hunter searched with her eyes and other senses for nearby animals. She had a sense of which beasts were friendly and which would attack her, and she tried to decide which kind she wanted to tame that day.

Catching sight of peculiar movement to her right, she turned and found herself looking at a plumpish beast that reminded her of a raccoon but with huge tube-like spikes rising out of its back. She focused on it with her senses until her hunter abilities told her the Pandarens called it a porcupine and that it was friendly unless attacked.

The idea of having such a peculiar looking beast as her new pet greatly appealed, but she wasn't sure it was sturdy enough to survive her fighting style. Her sisters and those who knew her well called her fighting style "charging headlong into danger" and she doubted a spiny little porcupine would be the best fit for that.

Moving her gaze beyond the porcupine, Sri found some large orange and black tigers prowling about the lush grass of the ascending hills before her. As beautiful as the sleek beasts were, she wasn't ready for another feline pet yet, so she dismissed the idea of taming one. Wondering if there were any other types of beasts in the nearby vicinity, she stepped off the stone path and into the boulder-filled grass just as it started to rain. The cool rain felt wonderful on skin that was still warm from climbing the steps and Sriset smiled as lightning danced across the sky in the distance. She had always loved watching, listening to, and being caught out in rain and storms and it appeared as though Pandaria had such weather often.

As was prone to happen with Sri, she became so distracted by one thing that she forgot about the other thing she was supposed to remember. Her enjoyment of the rain dampening her hair and clothing was so complete that she ambled inattentively through the grass and didn't realize she was wandering deeper into the felines' territory until it was nearly too late.

Hearing low growling nearby, Sri turned to find one of the large orange tigers hunkered down in the tall grass glaring at a nearby porcupine as it prepared to pounce. Her first thought was that she could just tame the tiger before it saw her, but when she thought that such an action might also provoke the porcupine into attacking her, she realized she needed a different plan. Knowing she needed to remove herself from the feline's vicinity before it saw her, Sri drew her bow silently, backed away slowly, and began searching with her eyes for some other beast to tame.

Not surprisingly, most of the porcupines had vanished from the area in an effort to avoid becoming the tiger's next meal. Thankfully, she caught sight of a light-furred rump protruding from behind a nearby stone outcropping. The rain was heavier now, making it difficult to see as water from her soaked bangs into her eyes, but judging by the shape of the rump, she concluded it was some type of bear. Feeling that a bear would do just fine right then, she began focusing her taming magic toward the beast. To her surprise, the magic abruptly bounced back at her.

Staring in confusion, Sri watched as the creature emerged from behind the rock outcropping and revealed it was indeed a bear, but not truly a beast. It was the bear form of a druid. She felt utterly embarrassed as it transformed from the pale-furred tattooed bear form into the figure of a tall night elf man. She didn't have time to discern more than that as she heard the growls of the tiger's approach.

Rather than try to fight the beast or face the druid she'd mistaken for a beast, Sri collapsed onto the ground and feigned death, a talent that hunters were well known for, and often disliked for on Azeroth. The arrows from her quiver scattered over the wet ground with noisy splashes, but her seemingly sudden death was enough to convince the tiger that she wasn't worth bothering with. Much to her dismay, it didn't dissuade the night elf druid.

Sri had one eye open just enough to watch the tall night elf man walk toward where she lay on the ground. Night elves were taller and broader than blood elves and this dark-skinned male was no exception with his wide shoulders, strong thighs, and overall muscular physique. His hair was long, white, and in two braids that hung down on either side of his neck with the upper part in a topknot at the back of his head. His face had a well-trimmed white beard and the lips that beard surrounded were drawn down in a frown as he walked toward her.

"Did you just try to tame me?" he asked crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot as he looked down at her amid the rain.

Sri heaved a huge sigh and sat up hoping the rain would hide the blush she felt on her cheeks. "Well, I can explain...kind of." She rose to a kneeling position and started gathering up her fallen arrows to return to her quiver.

The night elf man's thick, bushy eyebrows rose in surprise as he saw the arrows on the ground and the bow she was holding. "You really are a hunter? So, you did try to tame me then."

Now it was Sri's turn to frown at how surprised he'd sounded when he realized she was a hunter. "Yes, I'm a hunter." She stood up and crammed her arrows into the quiver on her back. The rain was ending as quickly as it had begun but clearing skies would not be enough to erase what had just happened.

"You're out here without a pet?" The surprise remained in his voice.

"For your information, I don't always require a pet." When the man snorted in amusement, her annoyance intensified. "Why is that so hard to believe?" she demanded.

The night elf's golden eyes widened as they still glimmered with amusement. "Because you just tried to tame a druid."

Sri rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I'll never do it again."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Well, I don't really care what you doubt or believe because you don't know me." Sri turned away from the man and started back toward the path and the steps down to Sri La Village. To her complete shock and anger, she was abruptly stopped when the man grabbed a hold of the end of her wet braid and yanked it, almost making her fall backward. That was it!

Sri swiftly nocked an arrow in her bow and spun around to face the night elf man who had released her hair as quickly as he grabbed it. She glared at him as he stood in front of her with his hands held up, palms towards her. He did not however look scared or apologetic.

"I'm sorry, I thought that was your leash."

Sri's eyes widened in disbelief that changed to fury. She was horrible at duals, especially without a pet, but she was willing to give it a go with this rude night elf druid. "You really need to leave me alone now," she said in a voice that was nearly a growl. The night elf man smiled in what she guessed was supposed to be a charming way. She was not impressed.

"I just wanted to know the name of the hunter who tried to tame me," he insisted with feigned innocence. "My name is Daxienn Moonshadow." He made a slight bow as he introduced himself.

Although she was sorely tempted to still shoot the man, Sri decided that taking on a being that could transform into a bear and eat her probably wasn't the best idea. She sighed, lowered her bow, and slid the arrow back into her quiver. "That's lovely for you. Good day." She yanked her braid over her shoulder, turned away from him again, and resumed her journey toward the steps down into the fishing village. She almost growled in frustration when she heard him fall into step behind her.

"Ah, so you're staying in the village then. I was just on my way there."

Sri could hear his smug smile in his voice, but she refused to look at him as he moved to walk next to her. With the sun emerging from the clouds to warm the air once more, she continued walking until they reached the arched bridge in front of the huge stone statue carved into the cliffs. She abruptly stopped at the end of the steps and the start of the bridge where there was an opening that gave an unobstructed view of the ocean to the east. The blood elf turned to look out over the village toward the ocean. Blue sky was visible through the parting skies and shafts of sunlight illuminated the waves in sparkling beauty. "Look at that view! Don't you have some bird form you'd love to fly out over the water?" She motioned outward with her hand doing her best to muster a pleasant smile.

"Look at that view! Don't you have some bird form you'd love to fly out over the water?" She motioned outward with her hand doing her best to muster a pleasant smile   
Daxienn raised a white eyebrow at her suggestion. "Well, I think the wreckage of a Horde zeppelin jutting out from the cliff and half sunk in the water detracts from it a bit." He stroked at his white beard with his left forefinger and thumb as he looked where she'd indicated.

Sri's eyes widened as she had somehow managed to just ignore the wreckage all the times she'd looked out toward the ocean. "I'm sure they're working on cleaning that up," she responded hastily.

"They who? Your Horde comrades? Or the poor Pandaren natives who live in this village your airship crashed into?"

Sri frowned. "It's not my airship. And anyway, I see the wreckage of an Alliance ship out there as well."

"That is true. So we are neither of us innocent in the damage to this land." Daxienn nodded slowly and thoughtfully as he gazed out toward the ocean and the wreckages.

"Um, sure." Sri wished that night elves, especially druid night elves, didn't tend to talk in a way that made her feel unintelligent.

"Wreckage aside, it does look like it'd be a lovely flight. But I'm not leaving until I know your name."

She rolled her amber eyes wishing he'd forgotten his desire to know her name. "I'm not going to tell you my name so you're on a hopeless quest." Sriset turned away from him again and resumed her journey over the arched bridge. To her dismay, he continued following her. Perhaps Zoruga could help her get rid of him, although knowing her orc friend, that would probably involve bloodshed. She might be that desperate to get him to leave her alone.

They were nearly to the other side of the bridge when Sri spotted a Pandaren fisherman walking up the nearby path toward them. The Pandaren male smiled at her and she smiled back as she recognized him from her time at the shore the previous morning.

"Good afternoon, Hunter Sriset," the Pandaren man said in greeting. "I see you have a new friend."

In her mind, Sriset was growling every curse word she could think of because the Pandaren had said her name in front of the night elf. On the outside however, Sri managed to remain smiling. "Greetings, Tulo."

"Yes, greetings, Tulo. It is wonderful to meet you. My friend Sriset has been telling me about the fine fishing in the village." Daxienn made a half bow at the Pandaren man.

Tulo smiled even wider. "Oh yes! We have the finest fishing in the Jade Forest! And the finest brews to go with them!"

"I have no doubt!" Daxienn chuckled with the Pandaren man in their shared appreciation for the endless selection of alcoholic brews in Pandaria. "I shall make sure to enjoy both during my stay here."

"Wonderful! Any friend of Sriset is welcome here." The Pandaren man continued smiling as he walked past them and across the bridge.

No longer needing to fake a smile, Sriset scowled at the night elf man. "While that might be true, you're not my friend."

"Oh, but fisherman Tulo thinks I am, and it would be a shame to disappoint him, my dear Sriset." Daxienn winked at her earning an exasperated huff before she turned away from him again and began stomping down the path. "I think I'll take that flight you suggested now. I'm sure I'll be seeing you later."

Sriset turned back toward the man in time to see him transform into a bluish-gray sentinel owl form. He beat his large wings a few times before soaring silently out toward the water and Sri fleetingly wondered if she could take him out with one of her arrows. Surely no one would notice a lone bird dropping from the sky...

"Sri! There you are!" Zoruga called from one of the foothills below her friend.

Shaking off her scheming thoughts, Sri focused on her green-skinned orc friend with short dark blue hair and smiled a truly genuine smile. "Was I lost? I didn't think I was."

Zoruga rolled her brown eyes at her friend as she neared. "You never think you are, but it's the case most of the time. What was that title your guild gave you? Sri of Perpetual Lostness?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sri protested as she reached her friend.

"Well, that's usually true as well."

That evening, Sri and Zoruga were sitting at one of the few available tables at the Sri-La Inn. A large fishing vessel had docked at the village that afternoon filled with Pandaren anglers exuberant from their highly successful catch. Those same anglers were now crowding the inn of Sri-La Village enjoying the brews and sharing in boisterous conversation and gambling at the small gaming tables.

Sriset wasn't fond of large, noisy crowds, but Zoruga was enjoying sampling more of the Pandaren brews and too preoccupied to think of much else. She had told Zoruga about her encounter with the night elf named Daxienn and while the orc had been visibly amused by Sriset trying to tame a druid, she had insisted that the night elf's behavior toward her had been rude and unnecessary. Sriset knew Zoruga would always come to her defense and was very protective of her blood elf friend, but they both knew that what the hunter had done was absurd. Nonetheless, Daxienn's reaction to her mistake had made Zoruga-who already disliked Alliance-consider him an enemy.

To deter her orc friend from seeking the night elf out for a "friendly conversation," Sriset had instead suggested they visit the inn for a meal and some drinks. Zoruga had been more than agreeable and the drinking and jovial atmosphere of the inn had ended any further discussion of Daxienn. With all the noise, the two friends couldn't really hear each other talk and Sriset had focused on eating her meal and slowly sipping the one mug of brew she'd ordered. The hunter rarely imbibed because alcohol affected her rather quickly and made her far more talkative than she already was.

After rather quickly finishing her third mug of ale, Zoruga rose from the table to fetch another sample of the local spirits from the bar across the room. With her friend gone, Sriset turned her whole attention to the plate of food in front of her. When she was finished, she was just going to leave the inn because by then her orc friend would be inebriated enough to want to stay at the bar and Sri could go back to their cottage and sleep in peace.

A shadow fell over her plate of food and Sri looked up to find the familiar night elf druid standing next to the table. As she watched he leaned over and rested his palms on the table. She was tempted to grab a knife and stab his hands where they lay. "Please leave me alone," she said loud enough for him to hear but not for the whole inn to hear.

Rather than leave, Daxienn leaned closer to her and smiled. "I've been doing a bit of research and just for future reference, there aren't actually any bears native to Pandaria."

"I think the bear people of this land would disagree with you," Sri huffed rolling her eyes.

"I meant wild beasts."

"Looking for a beast, are you? I can help you with that," Zoruga said roughly grabbing the night elf's arm and yanking him away from the table.

Sri stood up and placed her hand on her friend's arm. "Zoruga, don't. He's not worth your time."

Zoruga ignored her friend and scowled at the druid. "You had no right to belittle and disrespect Sriset like that. You don't know anything about her. Or are you so perfect, night elf, that you've never made a mistake?"

Daxienn's eyes widened slightly as the orc began fingering the hilts of the axes sheathed at her waist. "I came here to share some information with her."

"She doesn't need to know anything from you."

Sri sighed realizing her friend wasn't going to back down. "I'm tired, Zoru. I'm going back to our cabin."

"Don't follow her," Zoruga growled as Sri stepped out from her bench and moved away from the table.

The blood elf hunter didn't bother looking back toward the table as she left the inn. She knew Zoruga wouldn't allow the druid to follow her and at that point, Sriset didn't really care if that meant bloodshed was involved. Having the night elf seek her out to share more "helpful" information that made her feel even more stupid had not improved her evening in the slightest.

Sriset didn't even really remember what the food she'd eaten was called, but whatever it was felt like a rock sitting in her stomach as she walked away from the inn toward the fishing cottage she and her orc friend had rented for the week. What had happened with the druid that morning was yet another reminder that she was an incompetent hunter at times. Yes, it had been a moment of panic and lapse of judgment, but at her age and with her experience as a hunter, she felt she shouldn't really have those anymore.

As the oldest child of her family, Sriset had always believed that it was up to her to be the role model and to set a good example for her younger siblings. But she feared she'd failed miserably at doing so due to her horrible sense of direction, easily distracted nature, and her desire to spend more time with animals than her own kind. She knew her sisters all loved her-even if they didn't seem to love each other at times-and that her parents supported her in whatever she did, but Sriset felt most times like she was clumsily stumbling through life and had survived this long due mostly to luck.

Sriset's usually upbeat mood crumbled away from her thoughts and was so lost in her self-depreciation that she nearly ran into the wall of the fishing cottage that was her destination. It was a relatively short walk from the inn to the cottage, but she usually encountered other people on the journey and exchanged courteous pleasantries. If she had passed anyone else on the walk, she had been completely oblivious, and she hoped her inattentiveness hadn't seemed rude.

The sun was close to setting and she was more than ready to go to sleep. The fishing cottage belonged to a Jinyu fisherman who was more than happy to find somewhere else to sleep when Zoruga offered him a healthy sum of gold for his departure. Sriset's orc friend preferred not to spend the night in crowded inns because she didn't trust large gathered groups. Not that that kept Zoruga from drinking among such groups but sleeping was another matter.

As much as she loved her orc friend, Sriset knew they would have to part ways again soon. Zoruga seemed to believe that she needed to act as Sri's bodyguard when they traveled together and somehow that made the blood elf feel even more incompetent and lost. The pair only ever traveled together for short stretches anyway because they had very different approaches to adventure. Sriset tended to wander wherever the wind took her while Zoruga always had a plan and a method for things. For the sake of their friendship, they knew spending too much time together was unwise.

Sriset entered the cottage, closed the round wooden door behind her and crossed the small lower level room to ascend the stairs. The cottage was made of round wooden logs worked together cleverly to create as few gaps as possible. It was the same architecture used in the entire fishing village and Sri found it serene and comforting.

The loft above the lower level of the cottage was large enough for two beds, a small chest, and a table. There was a wide eastern facing window with a view of trees outside and the rocky cliff face, but if she climbed out on the balcony there, she could look south and see the ocean. A lovely breeze came in through the large window and traveled out through the octagonal window at the south of the loft that was cracked open just enough for circulation. As with seemingly everywhere in the oceanfront village, there was a faint scent of fish in the air, but it was far less overpowering since the Jinyu cottage owner had taken his barrels of fish with him.

While Sriset changed into more comfortable sleep clothing, she kept seeing the smug, mocking face of the night elf druid. She really wished he hadn't sought her out in the inn to tease her more and remind her of her mistake. Her parents had raised her never to judge others by whatever side of the faction line their race aligned themselves with but judging the man on his actions toward her certainly made him feel like an enemy. Was he trying to provoke her into a fight because she'd tried to tame him? Did he see it as some sort of insult that required restitution?

Sriset didn't know why the druid wouldn't leave the matter be and it was weighing heavily on her. She'd just wanted a break from the fighting and cold in Northrend and she'd stupidly invoked the wrath of a night elf. Despite her generally optimistic attitude, sometimes it felt like she was never going to come into her own and be a person she was actually proud of. Feeling tears forming in her eyes, Sriset exhaled heavily, laid down in one of the rounded, well-cushioned Pandaren beds, and pulled the blankets over herself. The sun was now fully set, the air was growing cool, and she just wanted to leave her mistakes of the day behind. Only Sriset knew that doing so meant crying herself to sleep, something she'd done more times than she would ever admit.

 

Not wishing to get into a fight with an orc warrior, Daxienn Moonshadow had put space between himself and Zoruga the moment she was distracted by something else happening in the inn. Knowing the orc woman would be watching his movements, he seized her moment of distraction to transform into his feral form and become nearly invisible with his stealth magic. When he was certain the orc woman was no longer looking for him, the night elf druid crept silently out of the inn in the direction Sriset had headed.

Although the blood elf hunter was nowhere in sight, Daxienn's feline senses picked up her scent and he pawed lightly east across the fishing village. It wasn't a big village and he was certain he could find her easily, but he didn't exactly know what he was going to do once he did. She felt like a puzzle that he wanted to figure out even though her actions all seemed very obvious and somewhat ridiculous.

For the most part, Daxienn spent his time either alone or among other druids. He had lost much of his family long ago to the Legion and hadn't felt a great need to return to his ancestral night elf lands. Druids came from multiple races and Daxienn did his best not to let faction dividing lines determine his opinions. Even so, if members of the Horde faction weren't druids, he didn't actively seek to acquaint himself with them.

Meeting Sriset in the way he had, had made him instantly curious to know more. In all his years of existence, no hunter had ever tried to tame him, either accidentally or on purpose. Judging by her reaction to what she'd done, she'd never attempted it before either and was embarrassed by her actions. There had to be some important reason she hadn't chosen to tame one of the other animals so close by, including the very tiger that had been about to attack her, and Daxienn found himself wanting to know what that reason was.

Thus far though he hadn't been doing a very good job of finding his answers in a manner that appealed to the blood elf. He had just been so taken aback by her actions and then amused at her attempt to feign death to avoid dealing with him. He supposed he hadn't behaved exactly courteously to her, but there seemed to be something about her that made him act like that. There was none of the blood elf attitude he'd encountered on many occasions where they defended their actions no matter what. Night elves could certainly be the same way, but the two races of elves had been at odds so long, it seemed like they'd never truly get along.

Realizing the blood elf's scent was growing strong, Daxienn slowed his pace as he neared the log fishing cottage. It was growing darker as the sun had fully set but he could see a dim glow of a lantern emanating from the upper level of the cabin. He walked across the wrap-around deck to the eastern side of the structure where he saw a large open window on the upper level. Hidden by the underbrush of the trees growing so close to the cottage, he then sat down on the wooden boards trying to decide what to do next.

It would be easy enough to transform into his sentinel owl form and fly up to that window, but he was certain Sriset would not appreciate that. He just wanted to try and somehow mend things with her, even though there was really nothing between them to mend. The logical part of him thought he was just being conceited wanting the blood elf to like him and see his point of view. But there was another part of him that was certain his treatment of her had been just as disrespectful as Zoruga had said.

While he was sitting there trying to figure out what to do, Daxienn realized he was hearing a soft, unfamiliar noise. His feline ears twitched and swiveled atop his furred head as he directed them intently at the open window. The sound became clearer and he discovered with dismayed surprise that it was the sound of the blood elf woman crying. There were some quiet whimpers and a few sniffles and then silence as he assumed she fell asleep.

Daxienn's feline ears flattened to his head as shame and regret filled him. His attempt to share further knowledge with Sriset about the lack of wild bears in Pandaria had apparently only managed to make the hunter more upset. Admittedly, he knew he wasn't the most tactful of night elves and was often too blunt for his own good, but he certainly hadn't meant to make the blood elf cry.

Resolving that the next morning he'd try to fix the mess he'd made, Daxienn found a shadowed spot at the base of the trees and settled in to sleep. Somehow, he would make things right with Sriset tomorrow and avoid the vengeful axes of her orc friend. Thinking of the orc made him move further into the underbrush of the trees where he was certain the orc wouldn't find him.


End file.
